Zuckercreme will host the first in a series of book events presenting the works of a local author, Rev. Sara Fischer. At 7 p.m. on October 5th, people can gather at 414 SE 81st Avenue to hear from the creator of Open: Adventures in Radical Hospitality. The author will read from the book, answer questions, and sign copies. Organizers will serve refreshments during the event.
The book focuses on Saints Peter & Paul Episcopal Church during the turmoil of 2020 and explores the path that lead Rev. Sara Fischer to that place and moment. Open’s subject matter makes it a uniquely Montavilla story that looks at the City and society from the center-point of this community. The author recognizes the significance of holding the inaugural reading in the neighborhood. “It is in many ways a ‘Montavilla book,'” wrote Fischer in an event announcement.
Interested readers can purchase the book online at Amazon.com and Bookshop.org or this week’s event. Rev. Sara Fischer is currently Rector for Saints Peter & Paul Episcopal Church at 247 SE 82nd Avenue and is cofounder of Rahab’s Sisters. Fischer will donate all net proceeds from book sales to Rahab’s Sisters and Saints Peter & Paul.
Set in what the author affectionately calls “the spiritual-but-not-religious center of the universe,” Open tells the story of a scrappy little church in southeast Portland, Oregon, and its many encounters with the poor in its neighborhood and beyond. In the city that in 2020 became a focus of national attention because of tireless protests against police brutality, the complexity and vulnerability that characterize racial struggles in America’s whitest city also characterize the struggles of this neighborhood church and its priest’s hunger for justice and hope. The church opens its doors and hearts to people marginalized by sex work, poverty, prejudice, or addiction–people whom others cannot or will not help–while on a national and global scale 2020 shines a light on legacy racial and economic injustices. The book explores intersections between faith, social unrest, and one clergywoman’s search for meaningful work.
Wipf and Stock Publishers
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